End stop for slide fasteners



Feb. 8, 1955 M. DoRMAN END STOP FOR SLIDE FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 14, 1952 Tirzl. E.

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INVENTOR. fd/144,@ M. www BY@ w wam/5y Feb. 8, 1955 l.. M. DORMAN END STOP FOR SLIDE FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 14, 1952 lUnited States Patent O END sToP Fon SLIDE FAsrENnRs Leonard M. Dorman, Meadville, Pa., assignor to- Talon, Inc.,` a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 1'4', 1952, Serial No. 293,592

Claims; (Cll 24-205i11) This invention relates toslide fasteners, and particularly to an improved end stop therefor for permanently unitingl the two fastener stringere at one. end thereof.

It is the general object of the present invention to. Provide a simple, and effective: endstopv for permanently uniting the lower ends of the stringers- Without the use of any tools or other special equipment..

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved form of end stopwhich can be: easily andco11- veniently manufactured from a1 plastic material', such as pyroxylin, cel-lulose acetate, and nylon, in which noy expensive equipment is required for making or appl-ying thev end stop members. A

It is a further object, of the invention toprov-ide an end stop construction in which the coupling members of the stop and the interlocking fastener elements on the edges of the stringers can be simultaneously molded thereto. l

It is also another object ofl this invent-ion toV provide an end stop member consisting of a pair of complementary symmetrical coupling members adapted to be assembledin permanent interengagement by means of the, slider and having interlocking mean-sy incorporated therewith for preventing disengagement: after soassembled.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a-n end stop consisting of apair of complementary symmetrical coupling members4 having interlocking projections and recesses' identical inconstruction to those of the,- interlocking fastener elements on the: Stringer whereby they may beV easily interengaged by the. slider when pulled therethrough.

Various other objects and advantages of this. invention will be more apparent in the course of the following specifica-tion, and will be particularly pointed', out in the appended claims..

In the accompanying drawings, there, is shown for the purpose of illustration, an embodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

ln these drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of a slide fastener having the improved end stop of my invention incorporated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the fastener, as shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lower end of a Stringer showing one part of the end stop attached thereto;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the lower end of the fastener with the top Wing of the slider removed, showing the initial registering of the end stop members when the fastener stringers are being pulled up or closed;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the end stop members fully engaged and passing out of the slider; and

Fig. 7 is another view similar to Fig. 5, showing the end stop members fully engaged with the slider positioned a short distance above the end stop.

The fastener illustrated comprises a series of spacedapart interlocking fastener elements 2 attached to the opposed beaded edges of a pair of Stringer tapes 3. There is arranged on the fastener elements, a conventional slider 4 for longitudinal movement therealong for opening and closing the fastener in a well-known manner having a pull member 4a for manipulating the same. Such a slider consists generally of spaced-apart upper and lower wings 5 and 6, respectively, having inwardly extending guide ilange portions 7 along their marginal edges and connected at one end by a neck portion 8 so as to provide a substantially Y-shaped channel between 2,701,401 Patented Feb. 8a 1955 ICC the wings into and through which the fastener elements pass when the slider isrmoved therealong for opening and closingI thefastener.

While the fastener elements 2 may be, of any suitable construction and attached. tothe tapes in any convenient i manner, the; fastener elementsillustrated are preferably' molded or die cast uponthe edges. of the stringers. The fastener elements show-r1l comprise anattaching portion and a, coupling head. which are. providedon opposite` sides with projection and socket or recess portions. The coupling head of each of the elements 2 4 isprovided on one, side with a. projection 9 and av recess 10 and on the opposite side with a projection 1,2,- a-nd a recess.- 13. The projections 9 and 12 extend from one side of the elementI to surfaces 14 and 15, respectively, each of. these surfaces being positionedsubstantially one half of the width of. the elements. and substantially parallel with the plane of. tapes. 3. The recesses4 10- and 13 extend substantially throughthe same width asthe projectionsl 9- and4 12 from one side face of the element tothe surfaces. 1 4,

, and 1-5, respectively..

' coupling members. 16- and- 16a are identical inicons-tructio-n and each of them consists preferably of at least three coupling headportions 1'7J which have cooperating prol ject-ions and recesses. In the'y present illustration, these coupling head portions agree identical in construction with the headportions of the interlocking fastener elementsV 2. Tha-t is toe say, each of these head port-ions has a projection 18- and a rece-ss4 19f arranged on one sideof the` head anda correspond-ing projection 20 and recess` 2 1 arranged on theopposite side of the head, The projections 1;& and- 2'0: extendfromone side of the head to; surfaces 21a. and 22, respectively, each of these surfaces being positioned substantially one,- half the, Widthof the heads and substantially parallel with. the plane of the tape: 3. Therecesses- 19, and 2,1 likewise extend` substan f tially through the width of the.- projeetions 18l and 2'0;

from; one side surface of the head to the surfaces: 211g; and 22, respectively. In other words, thev three head portions of the coupling mem-bers; are: the equivalent to three couplingheadportions of the fastener elements 2,

' and preferably conform in shape therewith and; the attaching portions of these con-pling members; are integrally Connected together by portions Z3 and 24 so; as to pro'- vide integral coupling unit..

The coupling members 16 and 16o are engaged by passing them through the slider 4 or byY a pulling ups operation-i as it is know/nl to those skilled in the art. Arsy the coupling members; 1i6.- andv 16o passthrough the' slider, the respective coupling head portions 17 thereof are interengaged by the slider, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. That is to say, the projections 18 and 20 of one head portion engage with the respective recesses 19 and 21 of the adjacent head portion. After these coupling members have been once engaged, it is impossible for them to become disengaged under normal operating conditions of the fastener. In other words, after the coupling members 16 and 16al once are interengaged, as shown in Fig. 6, they will not become disengaged thereby providing a permanent uniting means for the ends of the strmgers.

It is preferable that these end coupling members be molded from a plastic material such as nylon which has a certain degree of resiliency, so as to permit the interlocking head portions thereof to snap into engagement with one another. Thus, it will be seen that by pro viding coupling members of such materials and construction, it will be impossible for them to become disengaged after they are once interengaged. It will be seen also that after they are once interengaged, it is not necessary to provide any additional means for keeping the stringers together and united at the end of the fastener. Also, it will be seen the coupling members 16 and 16a are provided with interengaging projections and recesses which are so constructed and arranged so as to prevent relative displacement of the two members in a longitudinal direction as well as a lateral direction.

It will be obvious that the coupling end members 16 and 16a and the interlocking elements 2 can be simultaneously cast or molded upon the Stringer tapes 3 which is one of the most important aspects of the present invennon.

As a result of my invention, it will be seen that there is provided an end stop member consisting of a pair of complementary coupling members which can be easily and quickly assembled and permanently united, namely, by passing the coupling members through the slider as the stringers are assembled together.

While I have shown and described an embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that other forms may be devised within the scope` of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a slide fastener of the class described having a pair of stringers with a series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements arranged along the opposed edges thereof and a slider arranged on the fastener elements for longitudinal movement along said stringers, anv end stop construction comprising an elongated coupling member fixedly secured to the edge of one Stringer and a similar coupling member iixedly secured to the edge of the other Stringer below the endmost fastener element of the respective stringers, each of said coupling members being of a resilient material and having a plurality of interengaging projections and recesses arranged along the opposed edges thereof which normally prevents relative movement of the stringers both laterally and longitudinally, the combined overall width of both of said coupling members being slightly less than the width of the channel in said slider so that both of said coupling members are adapted to pass into and through the slider whereby they are initially interengaged thereby, the interengaging projections and recesses being so constructed and arranged that once they pass through the slider and are interengaged they cannot normally become disengaged by movement of the slider thereover so as to provide a permanent stop for the slider.

2. In a slide fastener of the class described, as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the coupling members consists of an integral body member having at least three interengaging fastener element-like projections and recesses arranged along the opposed edges thereof.

3. In the manufacture of slide fasteners of the type having a pair of flexible stringers and cooperating series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements attached to the opposed edges of said stringers which are adapted to be engaged and disengaged by a slider, the method of making an end stop which comprises securing an elongated coupling member to the edge of one stringer below the endmost fastener element thereof and securing a similar coupling member to the edge of the other Stringer below the endmost fastener element of that Stringer, each of said coupling members being of a resilient material and having a plurality of interengaging projections and recesses, passing the fastener elements together with the coupling members through the slider whereby the coupling members are forced together so that the projections and recesses of one of the coupling members are interengaged with those of the opposed coupling member so as to join together permanently the coupling members.

4. In the manufacture of slide fasteners of the type having a pair of flexible stringers and cooperating series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements attached to the opposed edges of said stringers which are adapted to be engaged and disengaged by a slider, the method of making an end stop which comprises molding from a resilient material an elongated coupling member to the edge of one Stringer, molding a similar coupling member to the edge of the other Stringer, each of said coupling members having a plurality of interengaging projections and recesses, passing the fastener elements together with the coupling members through the slider whereby the coupling members are forced together so that the projections and recesses of one of the coupling members are interengaged with those of the opposed coupling member so as to join together permanently the coupling members.

5. In the manufacture of slide fasteners of the type having a pair of flexible stringers and cooperating series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements attached to the opposed edges of said stringers which are adapted to be engaged and disengaged by a slider, the method of making an end stop which comprises molding from a resilient material an elongated coupling member to the edge of one of said stringers and molding a coupling member to the edge of the other Stringer, each of said coupling members consisting of a plurality of fastener elements molded together so as to provide an integral unit, passing the fastener elements together with the coupling members through the slider whereby the coupling members are forced together so that the projections and recesses of one of the coupling members are interengaged with those of the opposed coupling member so as to join together permanently the coupling members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,183,652 Krich May 16, 1916 1,837,021 De Goote Dec. 15, 1931 2,100,557 Wintritz Nov. 30, 1937 2,186,774 Sundback Jan. 9, 1940 2,252,305 Puschner Aug. 12, 1941 2,511,397 Day June 13, 1950 2,590,107 Lackritz Mar. 25, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,568 Great Britain of 1910 575,628 Great Britain of 1946 

